Pentecost

Passover

A few weeks back we had a Passover presentation that we held Downstairs. a demonstrations of what passover would have looked like well. What is Passover? it is a yearly holy day set apart for the Israelites to observe when Moses lead them out of Egypt.

Jesus celebrated Passover with his disciples. What we know as the Lord’s supper. The last supper that Jesus would have with the disciples before his crucifixion.

Jesus was then crucified. As we see in John 19:30 “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

In Greek it would have been a single word which is tetelestai Which is the perfect past tense it declares that the work is done.

That the sacrifice is accomplished!

The debt is paid in full!

it said he bowed his head and gave up his Spirit

The fact that Jesus is said to "give up his spirit" is significant. From a physical standpoint, Jesus' body has suffered fatal injury. And yet, His death is entirely an act of His own will. That included His willingness to be born into human form or to be God in a bod to submit to God's will, and to allow His own arrest and execution. Whether literally, or as a statement of agreement, Scripture clarifies that Jesus is "giving up" His life to God the Father—it is not being stripped away from Him by force

Then three days later he rose again!

In Acts 1 we learn that over the next 40 days Jesus appeared to the disciples on numerous occasions.

Acts 1:4-5 “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”

The disciples were to wait for the gift - the promised Holy Spirit.

patiently waiting. Patients that is something that many of us want but most of us lack. Myself included. I can recall many times in my life where I would love for something to happen much quicker than it is, The DMV, Dial- up internet, i know the young ones here don’t even understand. All I can say is its worse than

3G........

4G........

5G.......

oh man even the Gens on our phone internet are outdated. And yet there are some out there saying internet....... we had encyclopedias and the library. In my day we had to walk to school uphill both ways in the snow. OR I know most would say patiently waiting for the additional 45 mins it takes their wives to get ready.

My wife would argue that its actually me, which is true, but its mostly because I wait until the last minute to get ready. and all the wives said Amen

Well

God’s timing is always perfect.

Which brings us to today, as we talk about Pentecost.

Pentecost was 50 days following Passover. In the Old Testament this event is called the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Harvest. It was primarily a time to remember and thank God for the blessing of harvest.

Pentecost literally means fiftieth in Greek

Well after all that happened and Jesus ascended The disciples and followers of Jesus must have felt a bit down and discouraged. Jesus was no longer with them; the Messiah was gone, and yet they were not without hope. Jesus was not dead he was alive. The tomb was empty, and it had been more than a week that Jesus was gone and still nothing, they were all alone. Soon they were to celebrate with thanksgiving the harvest of first fruits. However, God had something else in mind.

Acts 2:1-2 “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.”

with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is unusual. But in both the Hebrew and Greek languages, the word for spirit (as in Holy Spirit) is the same word for breath or wind, so wind would make any of these men and women who knew the Hebrew Scriptures think of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:3 “And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.”

The second representation of the spirit a visual representation of Fire.

Acts2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

The third manifestation through speech.

Acts 2:5-13 “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

They spoke in languages that they did not know and were never taught.

Pastor James used to tell a story about a few years ago a man from the church was on the phone with his daughter as she was in her first week at college away from home. Now the dad could tell that his daughter was having a hard time so he decided to pray for her in the Spirit. What he did not know or most likely care about was that his daughter was in the car with someone else and she could hear everything that the dad was saying. After the daughter hung up with her dad she apologized to her new friend and said sorry if you heard that, my Dad was just praying for me. The girl said wow I had no Idea you or your dad spoke some random foreign language. She was able to tell the daughter in her home language every word that her father spoke. .

When the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them, it was heard by those around.

The believers were praising God and giving God glory in a heavenly language. They were declaring the wonders of God, and amazingly those around, who spoke different languages understood what they were saying. How was it that these Galileans spoke their language? It was the Holy Spirit speaking through them. Just like the father and daughter I just spoke about.

God was beginning to do something. Revival was beginning to break out. The message of the Gospel was about to go forth in power and boldness. The church was born, and some 3000 people would respond to Peter’s bold message of the Gospel and were saved. God was beginning to pour out his Spirit and it was going to be on all people.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit ushered in a new era, the church age. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was a rare gift that was only given to a few people, and usually for only short periods of time. When Saul was anointed king of Israel, the Holy Spirit came upon him as seen in 1 Samuel 10:10, but when God removed His blessing on Saul, the Holy Spirit left him.

The Holy Spirit came for specific moments or seasons in the lives of Othniel (Judges 3:10), Gideon (Judges 6:34), and Samson (Judges 13:25; 14:6) as well, to enable them to do His will and serve Israel. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on all believers in Christ, and He came to stay. This marked a major change in the Holy Spirit’s work.

An example would be Picture a huge dam for hydroelectric power under construction, like the Aswan High Dam on the Nile, 375 feet high and 11,000 feet across. The dam was completed in 1970 and in 1971 the turbines with their ten billion kilowatt-hour capacity were unleashed with enough power to light every city in Egypt. . During the long period of construction the Nile River wasn't completely stopped. Even as the reservoir was filling, part of the river was allowed to flow past. The locals downstream depended on it. They drank it, they washed in it, it watered their crops and turned their mill-wheels. They sailed on it in the moonlight and wrote songs about it. It was their life. But on the day when the reservoir poured through the turbines a power was unleashed that spread far beyond the locals down river and brought possibilities they had only dreamed of. To put into perspective how much that truly is the average Minnesota home uses on average 25kwh per day. it would take that home roughly 1 million years to use that capacity

Well, Pentecost is like the opening of the Aswan High Dam. Before Pentecost the river of God's Spirit blessed the people of Israel and was their very life. But after Pentecost the power of the Spirit spread out to light the whole world

When God is about to do something, He does not need to ask permission. He just does it. This is the first spiritual revival of the church. There will also be a number of revivals down the ages.

Revival will cause people to focus on what is important: God. What was a wheat harvest celebration for the Jew now becomes a day of celebration, of the harvest of souls. Gentiles and Jews alike.

The day of Pentecost is an important day the church and every Christian is to celebrate. It is when the Holy Spirit came down and now dwells within his people. God made us all a living temple. We are the church.

Romans 8:9 “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

So What does this mean for us?

Pentecost happened to activate the Body for works!

The Jewish feast of Pentecost happened at the beginning of pentecost before they harvest the firstfruits Just as the outpouring of the spirit, happened on the day of pentecost before they could harvest the firstfruits of the people!

#1 You are sealed with the Holy Spirit promise

This being sealed with the Holy Spirit is not the same as being baptized with the Holy Spirit which is the empowerment to be witnesses of Him.

All believers have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, not all believers have been baptized with the Holy Spirit.

What is meant by being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise?

Ephesus was one of the world trade centers of that day, the goods from the East would come into Ephesus to be carried from there by sea to Rome and the other capitals of Europe.

It was a city of bustling commerce, and always filled with merchants from Rome, and other major areas.

These merchants would buy their goods there, then ship them from Ephesus to the Western world. It was here that East met West.

When they would purchase the goods, they would pack them for shipment, they would then put their seal of ownership on the merchandise that was to be sent to the Roman port of Puteoli where the merchandise would be identified and claimed by the servants of the merchant.

The seal was the sign of ownership.

These goods belong to the owner whose seal is affixed to them

The Holy Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you.

#2 The Holy Spirit is a Person.

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit has the intellectual capacity to think and know. These are the marks of personhood.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about this aspect of the Spirit of God. He put it in this manner.

1 Corinthians 2:10,11 “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

He gives us guidance

It is reassuring to know that the Holy Spirit is not a mysterious force; He is a close Friend who will guide our lives on the right paths Romans 8:16 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”

#3 The Holy Spirit is not a condiment.

He is not to be added on as an afterthought. The Holy Spirit is not a distant third in the Trinity. He is the One who was given specifically to the church when Jesus ascended into heaven.

The trinity is

(1) as Creator, Lord of the history of salvation, Father, and Judge

(2) as the Lord who, in the incarnated figure of Jesus Christ, He came as God in a bod, fully God and fully human

(3) as the Holy Spirit, whom they experienced as the helper or intercessor in the power of the new life.

Three in one all God, yet the father is not the son, the father is not the Holy Spirit, The son is not the Holy Spirit etc. but they are all God. 3 persons and one Godhead

#3 He is a Helper for your life

John 14:16-17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Jesus called him “the Helper” the word in greek is parakletos which can be translated in a few different ways.

a. Advocate The Spirit is on your side. He works to open doors for you, empower you, and remind you. Because he is God, he sees the truest and loveliest version of you.

b. Comforter Life is a painful mess of challenges, limitations, and failures. You are always put face-to-face with life's difficulties. The soil produces fruit, but only with tears. We often agonize, but the Spirit lives within us to provide us with comfort.

c. Encourager The Spirit lives within his people. He reminds you of who you are. He tells you of God’s love and grace. He urges you on to the sacrificial and beautiful things of life.

d. Counselor Jesus is called the Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6), and the Spirit delivers his counsel to our lives and hearts. Open yourself to his word. Sit and listen to a sermon, but with your heart open and ready for the Spirit’s advice.

e. Helper Jesus called him “another Helper" of the same kind and quality. In other words, the Spirit would help the disciples (and helps you) in the same way Jesus helped his disciples while walking on the earth. He provided. He taught. He led. He worked miraculously. He emboldened them. The Spirit, unrestricted with spacial limitations like Christ was, would help them as they went throughout the world making disciples. And he will help you do the same.

#4 God has, and will, fill you with the Holy Spirit and you will receive power to be his witness.

God with the outpouring of his Spirit. This will empower you be his witness.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”

The gifts of the Spirit as seen in 1 Corinthians 12 are:

Word of wisdom

Word of knowledge

Faith

Gift of Healings

Miracules

Prophecy

Distinguishing between spirits

Tongues

Interpretation of tongues

There is a proper time and place for each of these gifts. What is proper and orderly in a prayer meeting might not be in a Sunday service. And what is in order at one time in a particular service might not be at another time in the same service. There is a time for personal edification meaning to build up and a time for edification of the whole church.

ILLISTRATION

I need a volunteer.

Jarid come on up here.

Do you all see these two cans right here?

They came out of the same package, they are both made from aluminum, they have they same weight as far as the aluminum is concerned. There is no difference between these two cans, There is no difference between these two vessels. Is that correct?

BUT there is one difference, one is filled and sealed the other is opened and empty. When the pressures, do me a favor and please stand on this for me.

When the pressures of this world come agains this vessel, the vessel thats open and is empty, the vessel that has not been filled or sealed, when the pressures of life come it gives way.

YET You take the same aluminum, the same vessel the only difference being that this one has been filled and sealed now what happens?

Please stand on this one.

The same storm, trial, same disappointments come, but all of a sudden you see the difference, one has been filled and sealed the other is open and empty.

Listen to this, listen to me.

There is no difference between you and someone that God is using mightily, they just allowed the Holy Spirit to fill and seal them!

You can take a seat.

Look around, the harvest is greater than ever before; people need to hear the love, grace, mercy, and peace of God. They need to know healing is possible. Each believer has, and is given, gifts and talents by God, to minister to the lost and bring revival to the land. Today, as in the days of Acts, the world needs revival.

Revival begins within your heart and life when you hunger for God. Revival also happens when the spiritually dead is made alive by faith in Christ. The church and every believer were to become living examples of the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God.

The spirit of God was being given to all who would believe and have faith in Christ.

We need a spark of revival today in the heart of every believer. Revival started with the believers in the upper room and expanded across the land.

Through the ages and today people need:

Hope

Deliverance from oppression

Deliverance from spiritual bondage

Deliverance from lies of the enemy

Their spiritually blind eyes and deaf ears opened

The heart of stone removed and replaced with a heart for God—that starts with revival

The same is true today. Just turn on the news and you will see the pain and suffering. You will see the anger in people’s hearts that only God can remove and make new.

We need to pray and wait upon the Lord. Revival is a work of God and is a result of God moving upon our hearts. Revival happens on God’s timetable, and in His timing, not man’s. Revival will happen when we seek and wait upon God. Revival will occur when we humble ourselves before God and seek God with all our hearts.

With revival comes:

Repentance and the desire to live a life set apart unto Christ.

Submission to God’s word.

Obedience and commitment to the plan of God, adding workers to the harvest of souls, no matter the cost.

Revival changes lives and eternal destinies:

Revival reveals compromising areas in your life, and through renewed passion for the word of God, your heart and life is changed.

Revival develops spiritual hunger for the things of God.

Revival increases faith, and expectation increases because people believe and know that God can do all things.

Today more than ever people need hope. People need to hear the message of the Gospel. People need to hear the truth that Jesus is alive, and forgiveness is possible; deliverance is possible; healing is possible; and renewed relationships are possible.

As a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit in you. Let us pray:

God give us the gift for boldness to share your faith.

God please fill our hearts with the love and grace to share your faith.

God we ask you for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and to reveal to us, the spiritual gifts he has given you.

God show us how to use the gifting he has given you.

Amen.

Remember the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Learn to pray in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit and live in the Spirit. As you do, you will become part of a revival and be used of God to bring in the spiritual harvest that is ready to be gathered.

If you’re not a christian, are you ready to follow Christ?

If you want know Jesus as your savior, you can pray and trust in Him right now. Romans 10:9-10 says that “if you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” It is not the prayer itself that saves, but the repentance and faith behind the prayer that gives salvation.

Pray this prayer in sincere faith for salvation:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.”

I pray that you will consider asking God to reveal Himself to you. Pray for someone to share their experience and faith and then ask God by His Holy Spirit to bring revival to your heart and life. Receive forgiveness of sin and know the true peace of God that comes only by faith in Christ.